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Improving Your Credit Score

This is the second article in a two-part series about credit score information. Our previous post showed you what information is included in a credit score.

Now that you know a little more of what goes into your credit score you may wonder what you can do to improve it. Here are a few simple tips:

Pay Your Bills!

The first and foremost thing is to pay your bills ON TIME, EVERY TIME. Pay them a little early to make sure they process on time. Being even one or two days late affects your score the same as being 30 days late. Once you are over 30 days late you are hurting your score even more.

If you can afford it, try and make more than the minimum monthly payment on your credit cards. It will save you money in the long run because you will pay less interest, and it will show lenders that you take your debt seriously and work hard to repay it.

Close Unused Accounts

Close unused accounts. If you have paid off a loan or a high interest credit card and you no longer intend to use it, close it. You do not want to close every line of credit offered to you as another thing credit bureaus look at is your used credit versus your available credit but if it is a card with a high rate have it closed.

Get a Free Credit Report

You can always get a free copy of your credit report every year from all three bureaus. Simply call and request your report so you know what lenders are looking at when they evaluate you as a borrower. Looking at your free credit report can also help you evaluate where you can improve.